MIKE & MIKE

THE BIG QUIESTION

Labor day is here, and the Rays are still on top. Do they have the fas to go the distance?The Mikes rev up for fall.

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GOLIC Anyone who says the Rays don't have a shot at winning the whole thing this season is plain crazy. There is no team in the AL, Angels included, that makes me think Tampa Bay can't pull this off.
GREENY As far as I'm concerned, Joe Maddon is the manager of the century. He did what Jim Leyland did a couple of years ago and then some. The culture of losing in Detroit didn't come close to equaling the culture of total futility in Tampa Bay.
GOLIC Even if it is a down year for the Red Sox and Yankees,
if you take a look at what Tampa Bay has done, you have to be impressed. Look at the teams with the most wins in major league baseball, and the Rays are right up there. That's because they are taking care of their own business. They don't care if some other team is down and not winning as much. They're just winning, and at a pace that makes them as good as anyone in baseball.
GREENY A year ago at this time, I firmly believed the Rays had no business being in major league baseball and should be contracted. Maddon set the tone in spring training: that these are not the same old Rays, and they're not going to get pushed around anymore. That has carried them through the entire season. They'll be a tough out in October.
GOLIC The big question for them has been staying power. Well, they haven't fallen off. Give them all the credit. The Rays and the Angels are running away with the AL.
GREENY The reality is the Rays aren't just a feel-good story anymore. They're a legitimate threat to win it all.

THE MIKES ON … A FEDEX CUP WITH NO TIGERr

GREENY I'm a fan of the FedExCup, and I can tell you it's going to be around a lot longer than Tiger Woods is going to be playing. Tiger got hurt and isn't going to be able to compete; so what? Things like that happen all the time: Serious injuries affect championships. Will there be less interest? Certainly. But will there be less legitimacy to the championship? I say no. Injuries are a part of sports. The winner of the FedExCup will be the champion of the year.

GOLIC I couldn't disagree more. The dreaded asterisk will be pulled out by a lot of people and hung on whoever wins it. He won't be considered the best golfer around; he'll be the guy who won the FedExCup when Tiger wasn't playing in it.

THE MIKES MAKE THE CALL ON MAKING THE RIGHT CALL.

GREENY Thank goodness MLB is gearing up for instant replay. The game is dipping a foot in the water by using it for home runs and fair or foul calls, but why are those the only calls that can be reviewed? Championships shouldn't be decided by bad calls. If technology can keep that from happening, there's no sensible reason not to use it.

GOLIC I like working out the kinks with some limited use for now, but the more they can get right with replay, the more I'm for it. As for the umps who say the way they call games will be negatively impacted by replay—well, they'd better get over it. The eye in the sky is everywhere.

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PREDICTIONS SURE TO BE WRONG

GOLIC This is the year Matt Leinart proves he was the best quarterback in his draft class.

GREENY And Eli Manning will throw more touchdown passes than his older brother.

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